The Best Coffee Beans
We have noticed that a lot of people assume coffee labelled as ‘Single Origin’ means it’s better, this just isn’t true. What it actually means is that the beans inside the bag come from a single country, region or estate not how good it is.
Names can be deceiving
A clever marketing trick is to claim that coffee is ‘100% Arabica’. While most of the best coffee beans are 100% Arabica, not all 100% Arabica beans are the best, some are among the worst quality coffee.
Commercially used coffee mainly comes from two varieties Arabica and Robusta, just because a coffee is 100% Arabica, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s one of the best.
So, what are the best coffee beans?
In a nutshell, there are two types of coffee, normal coffee and speciality coffee. Normal coffee is grown and produced to be as cheap as possible and tends to be sold in supermarkets, there will be no sign of the date it was roasted, which means it may not taste particularly good.
Speciality coffee, on the other hand, is not just coffee. Farms that grow speciality coffee are completely focused on quality. Coffee can’t be called “speciality” by simply putting a label on it saying so, it has to be given a score from the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA). The SCA are a group of experts who test and grade coffees for a living (where do I sign up...?).
Grading a coffee
Coffee is given a grade between 1-100 based on different categories: Aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body, uniformity, balance, cleanliness of cup, and sweetness, they are then given an overall score. To be classified as a speciality coffee, the best coffee beans generally have to score a minimum of 80 points. Speciality coffees aren’t just coffees that cost a lot, they’re coffees that have been tested by experts, and have met the minimum requirements for quality and are not as expensive as you might think.
Speciality coffees aren’t just coffees that cost a lot, they’re coffees that have been tested by experts.
The majority of speciality coffee is purchased by speciality coffee roasters, they tend to roast in much smaller batches just a few days before dispatching to their customers. This is where you’ll see a ‘roasted on’ date on the packaging.
While the above may help to figure out what makes the best coffee it doesn’t help get hold of this coffee. With our coffee subscription, we bring you a selection of speciality coffee from some of the UK & Irelands best roasters and with a different roaster each month you're sure to find a favourite.
